The FinTech funding rounds over the past week show that the coronavirus continues to affect the sector. They also provide an opportunity to look closer at India’s industry.
Money makes the world go around. That is doubly true during these trying times. If there is one theme that has been clear during the past week, it is that many FinTech startups are making an effort to ensure they survive past the coronavirus. A testament to this is the fact that several of the investment rounds FinTech Global has noted over the past week have seemingly been made in a bid to ensure the survival of the businesses.
The FinTech industry, just like many other sectors, have struggled with plummeting productivity and weakened funding conditions. As FinTech Global has previously reported, this might feed into a viscous cycle where ventures in the sector may have a harder time raising capital and, when they succeed, it might be at worse terms than they would usually get. For some that may have been looking at going public before the pandemic spread across the globe, they could now be forced to delay their exit or find less appealing ways of cashing in on their efforts.
FinTech Global has previously written about how the InsurTech sector might be one of the biggest winners in the FinTech industry, if the entrepreneurs in these companies play their cards right during the coronavirus crisis. The general idea is that COVID-19 have demonstrated to insurers the need to innovate, something that they have traditionally been quite reluctant to do. Tellingly, the only InsurTech round FinTech Global noted last week, the French online health insurance company Alan, picked up one of the biggest rounds this week – a whooping €50m in its Series C round.
Last week also saw two India-based FinTech startups – Karbon Card and NoBroker – raise money. Of course, India has been one of the biggest FinTech markets in Asia for several years, in no small way thanks to the size of its underserviced population. Between 2015 and 2019, the deal activity in the country almost doubled from 87 deals to 154 deals in a year, according to FinTech Global’s data. The same period also saw the amount invested into the nation more than double, from $2.14bn in 2015 to $5.15bn in 2019.
Another notable investment round from last week was ForgeRock’s $93.5m Series E round as it is the third digital identity verification company to have raised a big round over the past few weeks, with Beyond Identity and Onfido being the other two. It will be interesting to see if we will see more of the RegTech companies in this sector raise money in the weeks to come.
With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the 25 FinTech funding rounds that caught our eye over the past seven days.
Noah made a huge splash in the news by raising $150m
PropTech company Noah is no stranger to making waves by helping homeowners access their home equity. Now, on the back of its new $150m funding round, the venture is hoping to create even more contracts for homeowners.
CURO secured $100m in post-IPO capital
COVID-19 has caused massive challenges for FinTech companies around the world. To help it overcome some of these obstacles, North American credit provider CURO has raised $100m in senior secured revolving credit faculty from Atalaya Capital Management, a private credit and special opportunities alternative investment manager.
ForgeRock closed a $93.5m Series E round
As mentioned earlier, digital identity verification companies seem to be having a moment. Over the past few weeks, with Beyond Identity and Onfido have both raised massive rounds.
Now, fellow digital identity venture ForgeRock has joined the trend by netting $93.5m in its new Series E round. The round was led by Riverwood Capital and also saw participation from ForgeRock’s earlier backers.
“It’s a momentous day not only for our partners, investors and employees, but also for our customers – the more than 1,100 organisations counting on us more than ever in light of the global pandemic to make their employees 100% productive and their customers happy,” said Fran Rosch, CEO of ForgeRock.
Trade Republic secured €62m in a Series B round
Just months after it closed a €10m investment in August 2019, German mobile investing platform Trade Republic has collected €62m for its Series B round to strengthen its developing capabilities. Accel and Founders Fund led the round.
Alan netted €50m in a Series C round
French online health insurance enterprise Alan has revealed the close of a Series C round that saw it add €50m to its war chest. The capital injection comes as Alan is vying the opening of two new European offices in Spain and Belgium. It also said further European expansions were to be expected in the next five years.
Singapore-based investor Temasek led the round. Earlier investor Index Ventures also participated in Alan’s new raise. With the close of the round, Alan has raised a total of €125m in equity.
Funding Societies raised $40m in a Series C round
The coronavirus has turned the world economy upside down, with many businesses being forced to close their offices and have employees work from home. Others have had to downsize. Singaporean P2P lending platform Funding Societies falls into this later category.
The company recently reduced its team, which spans offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, by 18% due to the pandemic.
Yet, despite it downsizing, Funding Societies has apparently netted another $40m through its Series C.
NoBroker to build on its customer experience after securing another $30m in a Series D round
India-based PropTech platform NoBroker has reportedly raised a $30m extension to its Series D round which will be used to improve the customer experience on its platform. The capital injection was led by private equity firm General Atlantic, according to a number of reports in the media.
Hack attack company Randori netted $20m in a Series A round
Harmony Partners has led a new investment round for Randori, an automated attack platform. The Series A round saw Randori net $20m. Previous investors Accomplice, .406 Ventures and Legion Capital also participated in the round.
With the fresh funds, the company will look to expand its Attack platform, which gives security teams insights into “hacker logic”, understanding how they plan, target and execute attacks. It does this by automating real-world attacks to identity where security programs break down.
Previse has netted $11m in new round
Previse, which helps suppliers get paid instantly, has bagged $11m in its latest funding round. Reefknot Investments and Mastercard led the round, which also saw participation of earlier backers like Bessemer Venture Partners, Hambro Perks and Augmentum Fintech.
Remote closed $11m seed round
Payroll and HR startup Remote has closed its seed round on $11m as it looks to grow its operations to reach another 40 markets by the end of the year. The investment was led by Two Sigma Ventures, with additional commitments coming from Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Liquid2, INKEF Ventures, Remote First Capital and a couple of angel investors.
OpenInvest has added $10.5m to its coffers in a Series A1 round
OpenInvest, a portfolio advisor platform, has collected $10.5m in its Series A1 round which was led by QED Investors. SystemIQ, Resolute Investment Managers and ABN AMRO Ventures also supported the raise which OpenInvest will use to increase its global presence.
Everee has scored $10m in a Series A round
Payroll company Everee has scored $10m in its Series A round which will help it to expand the size of its team. Origin Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures co-led the raise. On the back of the new capital injection, Everee is recruit more staff, increase its product development and boost its sales and marketing efforts.
Orchestra Group netted $7.5m in a new funding round
Tech ventures raising money to help the financial services industry is always music to our ears. The news that automated cybersecurity company Orchestra Group has reportedly raised $7.5m in a funding round is no exception. Technology investor Prytek led the round, which the Israeli venture will reportedly use to support its own platform.
Bokio has closed a €7.4m round and announced a new merger
Bookkeeping platform Bokio has closed a €7.4m round and has merged with fellow Swedish accounting company Red Flag. The investment was backed by Creandum, European financial group Svea Ekonomi and asset management firm Öhman Group.
Auditoria.AI bagged $6m
Neotribe Ventures, Engineering Capital and Firebolt Ventures have all supported Auditoria.AI’s newest capital raise. The new round saw the financial software provider collect $6m. Alongside the announcement of the capital injection, Auditoria.AI also launch a new SaaS solution.
Indusface picked up $5m in new round
Last week, cybersecurity Indusface revealed that it had raised up $5m from Tata Capital Growth Fund II. The plan is that the digital defence venture will use the money to fuel an aggressive expansion of its solutions for helping organisations protect their web and mobile applications as well as attracting more customers.
“TCGF II is excited to support Indusface and its top notch team led by Ashish in their growth plans,” said Akhil Awasthi, managing partner at Tata Capital Growth Fund. “We believe that the cyber security market will continue to see significant growth as securing digital assets becomes a priority with the increased salience of digital business processes and the consequent reliance on a trusted ‘digital assurance’ provider like Indusface.”
Nordic API Gateway to fuel European expansion on the back of $4.6m raise
Nordic API Gateway has reportedly raised €4.6m through an internal funding round, as it looks to expand in Europe. The investment was also supported by Danske Bank and DNB, according to a number of reports in the media.
YAP netted $4.5m in a Series A round
YAP, a banking and payments application programming interface (API) platform, has reportedly raised $4.5m in its Series A round. BEENEXT, the Singapore-based investor, led the round that also saw investments from 8i Ventures Fund, The DMI Group, Better Capital and a number of angel investors.
Trovata has bagged $4.3m in seed capital
Automated cash reporting software Trovata has netted $4.3m in its oversubscribed seed funding round, which was led by J.P. Morgan. This capital injection was part of a planned extension for the company’s initial seed round which was co-led by FINTOP Capital
Oyster is coming out of its shell after raising $4.2m in seed capital
HR and employee benefits platform Oyster has bagged $4.2m in its seed round which was led by UK venture capital firm Connect Ventures. Sorenson Ventures, Kima Ventures, Transferwise co-founder and chairman Taavet Hinrikus, among others, also participated in the investment round.
Libeo netted $4m in a new funding round
France-based Libeo, which helps with the management and payment of supplier invoices, has scored €4m in a new funding round to help it navigate through these uncertain times. UK investment firm LocalGlobe led the round, with other contributions coming from Breega and unnamed angel investors.
Applied Blockchain has collected £2m in a new funding round
Applied Blockchain, a distributed solution developer, has netted £2m in a funding round led by Hong Kong-based venture investor QBN Capital. The venture is planning to use the new money to develop a new platform which leverage data privacy enhancing technologies to help companies collaborate and generate meaningful outcomes together, without needing to share any data.
Karbon Card bagged $1m in a seed round
Karbon Card has been established with the idea to launch corporate cards for startups in India. Now it has reportedly taken one step closer to achieving that goal by raising $1m in its seed round. The investment was led by India-based seed investor Orios Venture Partners and was joined by a number of unnamed angel investors.
Hubpay raised seed funding round
Digital wallet platform Hubpay has closed its seed funding round on an undisclosed amount. The investment was led by US venture capital firm Signal Peak Ventures, with additional support coming from angel investor group the Falcon Network.
Crypto exchange Lykke has raised an undisclosed round
Lykke, a Switzerland-based cryptocurrency exchange, has received an investment from South Korea’s Hanwha Systems, a technology solution developer. While keeping the amount raised a secret for now, the Lykke said the money will be put to supporting the growth of the company.
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